Monthly Archives: July 2012

First here is the video. It was featured on Streaming Media Producer (where I am a contributor — click here)

(If you want to view the video on the Streaming Media Producer site click here)

We used a new tool that allows us to track the viewing pattern of the video (see results below).

Click to Enlarge

What it showed was an extremely high level of engagement. Great… so it shows the video is working. But check this out, what it could have shown is perhaps even more interesting.

Let’s say there was a spike in the middle of the video… now why would that happen?

There are several reasons but most likely it means people are rewinding at that spot. That is either good because people are interested in that spot (e.g. a very cool part of the story or some important information like a website) or bad (i.e. people are potentially confused or maybe someone’s tie is on crooked). Either way this is very interesting because now we have even more information about the way people are viewing the video and what is important to them. The video could be adjusted to maximize the potency of this information or the information could be applied to another part of the larger marketing campaign for our client.

That is all well and good but how do you make sure the people/companies you targeted actually see the videos?

Here are two leading strategies that have proven to show results:

-Google AdWords For Video: this is also known as YouTube Marketing. Google provides some incredibly powerful tools to zero in on targets (i.e. by region, keyword, demographic, etc). We have done simple tests that resulted in 10-20 times the lift on a video from the start of a campaign. This can be used to drive a viral video project or just increase a brand’s awareness.

-Thought Leadership Distribution: find people (i.e. blogs, authors, media outlets, etc) who are discussing subjects that are connected to the purpose of the video. Target them, join in their conversations and share the videos. Often they will latch on to your content and then share your video with their following. This can be accomplished through detailed keyword research as well as a targeted social media strategy.

Of course, if you have any questions on any of the above… please let me know!

So, you’ve got an awesome HD video you’ve just created, and you’re ready to showcase it on your site. But, before you do that, you want an easy way to see how it’s going to look on your site, and you’d like to have it include colors that match your website colors / theme.

The first thing you can do to see how it’ll look on your site is to take a screen shot of your website and open it up in Photoshop or any other image editing software that you have.

Once you’ve settled on some colors, you can check the HEX codes for the colors that you’ve chosen using the eyedropper or color tool. This provides a quick and easy way to see how your video will look on your website.

To actually implement it, when generating your embed code for the video, plug the HEX codes for the colors used in your design files into the customized Vimeo embed code (more / advanced options). Then, copy the embed code and use it in your site. You’re all set!